DIY Sulfur Denitrator

[saltydog64]

Originally posted by Paul_PSU
I put silicone all around the outside edge and I was in basement looking through the room of used and lost pieces and parts and I had my old hang on skimmer sitting there with a quiet one 1200 attached to it . I just had to get a 1/2 in adapter for the output and now I'm ready to go. I just have to be patient and let the silicone cure. It says 24 hours and I put it on at 6am est so I gotta wait till tomorrow morning. I have to install my fans in my canopy anyways so that will keep me busy on my day off and my mind off the denitrator so I don't run it before the silicone cures.

Me and patience don't see eye-to-eye all the time..

Paul

Paul...........bummer..sorry about the leak !! I took a look @ your post of 02/08 w/ the clear top and all, nice job, but I noticed your top flange is a I.D. fit where as dj's is an O.D. fit so I'm sure your glue line( adpator to pipe) was long enough for a good seal??? I could be wrong on this...just a thought. U didn't say how big a leak...a drip now and then or what, not sure that matters as a leak is a leak.( remember, this was not a stand alone pump so a " new" pump will incresase psi making harder to seal) I hope the silcone works.......if not u really don't need to see in there...so a fix will be get out the saw cut off top flange as close as possible to the flange and glue on an adaptor, much like u used for your CA reactor, tap the cap just remember to use lots of teflon tape on those course threads as thier tough to seal (I know as I have retaped mine twice and it still leaks, small but leaks).
Paul this is off this subject, but when your ready to startup don't hook up your dischange to your tank @ first, run the units full open and into a 5 gal bucket as some nasty stuff can come out of there, run it this for 15 or mins then start to adjust flow rates still into the bucket. Actually what I did was to put the pump in the bucket with "old" tank water and a heater(this turned up hi 80's to speed up the cycle) it's running this way (started yesterday) until I'm sure of what's coming out there, glad I did because the course foams can't catch the fines that came off my media, I'm using about 9" of matrix, foam, than 6" of the CaribSea LSM sulfur than the final foam.

Just trying to help and good luck with this Paul

Dick

[asmodeus]

Just make sure that the media is not totally compact you should have some movement in the media. from what I have seen the more compact that it is the more chance you will have in the media turning to mush. I know its from experience. I dont hav eany foam on the top and i have the tumbling effect. that reminds me stay tuned for a test on what the nitrates will be...


please start to drop................................

[asmodeus]

WELL NOTHING YET I don't know why its not going down. Frank I'm running a Phosban reactor, with Phosban, Ozone through my skimmer @ about 15-20Mg/per hr and a Kalk reactor , dripping ever 5 seconds ,would the ozone have something to do with it. the nitrates are still at 40PPM i cant see that the Phosban and the Kalk reactor has any negitive effect on the Bacteria but would the Ozone may be

[Paul_PSU]

Mike,
It will come down, just be patient (I can't believe I'm telling someone to be patient ). The bacteria may have had to reseed and if thats the case, it will kick in.

hmm, I found this article while I was posting this. It had this to say:

"One thing that I, and others, have noticed though, is that reef
systems that use ozone tend to run at higher nitrate levels than reef
systems that do not. This may be a reflection of the increase in
nitrate production caused by the oxidation of nitrite into nitrate by
ozone and/or some inhibitory ozone affect on denitrification."

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~delbeek/reefaq3.html

so it just may take a little longer.......

Paul

[asmodeus]

Oh crap that is right Paul I for got about that Ozone converts Ammonia to Nitrites, and then to Nitrates. faster so the filteration can take care of it.


Man I feel dumb now after looking at it.. I totally forgot about that Nitrates, i was worried about slowing down the Cynao bacteria that i have in the tank.

thansk Buddy ya I know all about taking your time. shame on you for bringing out my short comings.

[asmodeus]

Oh crap that is right Paul I for got about that Ozone converts Ammonia to Nittrites, and then to Nitrates. faster so the filteration can take care of it.


Man I feel dumb now after looking at it.. I totally forgot about that Nitrates, i was worried about slowing down the Cynao bacteria that i have in the tank.

thansk Buddy ya I know all about taking your time. shame on you for bringing out my short comings.

[djfrankie]

Originally posted by Paul_PSU
hmm, I found this article while I was posting this. It had this to say:

"One thing that I, and others, have noticed though, is that reef
systems that use ozone tend to run at higher nitrate levels than reef
systems that do not. This may be a reflection of the increase in
nitrate production caused by the oxidation of nitrite into nitrate by
ozone and/or some inhibitory ozone affect on denitrification."

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~delbeek/reefaq3.html

so it just may take a little longer.......

Paul

Paul, that's a good find !

Mike, you might want to run this through Randy in the chemistry forum and see what he thinks?

Mike, is your nitrate test kit working???

Remember this is how I got in trouble to begin with. I had a bad Salifert test kit that gave me zero readings!

Do me a favor and test a new batch of saltwater and see what the results come up?

Also dilute 1 part of your tank's water to four parts of clean water and run a test again.

Let us know.

djfrankie

[Paul_PSU]

Frankie, thanks. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. I am trying to follow my own advice. I keep staring at the reactor and want to fire it up, but I gotta wait till tomorrow morning for the 24 hrs.

I have had my lights off for two days now to kill the cyano. According to the tracking number I will have the chemi clean on Friday.

What do you keep your salinity at for your tank? I kept mine at the standard 1.023, but have been reading on here that it should be around 1.025-1.026 like natural sea water.

Paul

[djfrankie]

Originally posted by Paul_PSU
Frankie, thanks. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. I am trying to follow my own advice. I keep staring at the reactor and want to fire it up, but I gotta wait till tomorrow morning for the 24 hrs.

I have had my lights off for two days now to kill the cyano. According to the tracking number I will have the chemi clean on Friday.

What do you keep your salinity at for your tank? I kept mine at the standard 1.023, but have been reading on here that it should be around 1.025-1.026 like natural sea water.

Paul

LOL...

I keep my salinity at 1.025 using a refractometer. I'm in the process of lowering to 1.022 since it allows more oxygen in the water. I plan on lowering the salinity within a month or so so all the inhabitants adjust to it with no problems.

Here's a relly good video seminar on hypoxia in our aquariums by Eric Borneman. Very interesting to say the least.

Enjoy!

http://www.reefvideos.com

djfrankie

[Paul_PSU]

Ok, so I still have the leak. I guess I am off to HD late today to start a new one. I really only need the bottom flange and the top cap ( I am definately going with the closed top design).

Frankie, am I SOL with the MJ? I wasn't sure if I could buy the part that is cemented (volute?) or I was going to see if I could cut it off close to the reactor and still attach to the new reactor with a coupling or two.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Paul

[djfrankie]

Originally posted by Paul_PSU
going to see if I could cut it off close to the reactor and still attach to the new reactor with a coupling or two.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Paul

Paul just cut it as close to the top as you can and pvc a slip to thread union like I did on the new one. If you want to cut the excess off the inside of the reactor you can also do it. Here's how:

Using a saw or a dremel (easier) make about 6 vertical cuts in the interior left over pvc pipe that was part of the flange. Then with a chisel or flat screwdriver you can pry these off. Then just sand the interior a bit to remove excess glue or whatever. It should take about 5 minutes.

HTH,
djfrankie

[adnup]

This is a great thread...

I've decided to make one my self. Do you guys think 4 1/2"o.d x 12" chamber would be enough volume for a 90gal tank with a medium bio-load. right now my nitrates are stuck at 25.

TIA ADNUP

[Paul_PSU]

Originally posted by adnup
This is a great thread...

I've decided to make one my self. Do you guys think 4 1/2"o.d x 12" chamber would be enough volume for a 90gal tank with a medium bio-load. right now my nitrates are stuck at 25.

TIA ADNUP

I have a 4 X 24 for the media and I have a 75g so you would have to at least do 24". You could always go 6" dia pipe and may be able to go shorter.

Paul

[asmodeus]

Well sorry folks ,but i took my reactor offline, due do Im going to be leaving in a week for Afghanistan and DOn't want to hav the aLk drop to much when Im gone, I have my wife and my best friend watching the tank. SO he is able to come once per week and I dont want to lave that type of problem with my wife Tammy while im gone for 2.5 months til i come back for 3 weeks and then goen back to Afghanistan til End of Aug. My nittrates are sitting at 35-40 PPm so my tank looks great. SO i will just deal with it til I get home and start up my new tank. thank you so much Frank for all the help and I hope the very best to every one that starts onee up.

P.S Frank aftr i was draining it I could smell rotton egg smell, wouldn't ya know it its starting after i take it offline.


good luck..............

mike

[djfrankie]

Originally posted by asmodeus
Well sorry folks ,but i took my reactor offline, due do Im going to be leaving in a week for Afghanistan and DOn't want to hav the aLk drop to much when Im gone, I have my wife and my best friend watching the tank. SO he is able to come once per week and I dont want to lave that type of problem with my wife Tammy while im gone for 2.5 months til i come back for 3 weeks and then goen back to Afghanistan til End of Aug. My nittrates are sitting at 35-40 PPm so my tank looks great. SO i will just deal with it til I get home and start up my new tank. thank you so much Frank for all the help and I hope the very best to every one that starts onee up.

P.S Frank aftr i was draining it I could smell rotton egg smell, wouldn't ya know it its starting after i take it offline.

mike

I think that's a wise decision Mike. Definitely it was starting to cycle

I want to wish you well and come back safe. Thanks for all you're doing for us to be able to enjoy our freedom and peace.

When you come back give me a call and we'll get this thing started again.

Peace and thanks again!

djfrankie

[IBASSFSH]

New test results
Here are some rather interesting test results for the first 23 hours. First shot is nitrate (on the left) and Nitrite (on the right) out of the Flow through PVC reactor from this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...25&pagenumber=4




WOW!! Look at those colors!! Way more than anything I got out of the R/O unit.

This is basically the same shot, but has tank water nitrates (on the far left):



Here are pics of my reactor that I had built. I wish I could have found round clear PVC pipe here, well I did not really look that hard. Again with the patience thing.



My base is a little different than the one pictured in the above link, due to not being able to find a 4" test flange for the bottom.
I am pleased with this though, because the shower drain piece sits down right where the reducer and pipe come together. It also makes a clean little area for the return pipe to blow back into.



If I was to do it all over I would have gone this way from the start. I think the R/O unit will work as to the testimony of others, but I would make the sulphur beads go nearly to the top of the media chamber in the first unit. This way more water goes through the sulphur beads. I don't think that the water really flowed down low enough to work properly in my set up (beads half way up)

I also used the media out of the R/O unit in the new PVC unit I made. Both the sulphur and the calcium media. I hope this helps somebody on their journey to a nitrate free tank. Including my own!!

[IBASSFSH]

Here is the link to the R/O unit I tried also, with time line and test results from that unit. Did not work well for me.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=8

[djfrankie]

Originally posted by IBASSFSH
Here is the link to the R/O unit I tried also, with time line and test results from that unit. Did not work well for me.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=8

Looks good!

thanks for posting your pics,

djfrankie

[Paul_PSU]

Originally posted by asmodeus
Well sorry folks ,but i took my reactor offline, due do Im going to be leaving in a week for Afghanistan and DOn't want to hav the aLk drop to much when Im gone, I have my wife and my best friend watching the tank. SO he is able to come once per week and I dont want to lave that type of problem with my wife Tammy while im gone for 2.5 months til i come back for 3 weeks and then goen back to Afghanistan til End of Aug. My nittrates are sitting at 35-40 PPm so my tank looks great. SO i will just deal with it til I get home and start up my new tank. thank you so much Frank for all the help and I hope the very best to every one that starts onee up.

P.S Frank aftr i was draining it I could smell rotton egg smell, wouldn't ya know it its starting after i take it offline.


good luck..............

mike

Mike,

Be safe bud. I also wanted to say "THANK YOU" for your service and what you do. I have a good friend in the US Air Force and he is heading to Iraq for 4 months. Let everyone over there know that we truly appreciate what you guys do and because of that we can sit here safe and sound and have the great nitrate debates. See ya when you get back.

Paul

[Paul_PSU]

Just an FYI if you are new to using pvc piping and cement. Here is a table with the cure times depending on size of pipe and temp:


Paul

[Steve 926]

Thanks for the pics Ibassfsh.

Is the Blk 1/4 line, the feed to the reactor?
What pump & gph for rec, & feeding the reactor ( MJ 1200 ?)
Height of the reactor itself & amount of media used, is it filled to just below the pump with a foam screen to prevent cloging the intake



Thanks for a reply !!!!

Steve

[IBASSFSH]

Steve 926 the black line is the feed line. It is attached to a 1200 Maxi- Jet in the sump. There is approx. 30' of it from my R/O setup so I just left it like that.

The overall height is approx. 30-31" to the top of the bleed valve elbow.

I do have a foam filter pads like DJFrankie showed in the early pictures. I have one on top of the shower type drain at the very bottom to keep stuff out go the bottom, and a foam pad between the sulphur beads and ARM media. I do not have one above the ARM media. I did not believe it would have enough flow to really disturb that too much and cause the media to get into the Maxi-Jet pump.

If you look at the sideways reactor picture the sulphur beads are somewhere around the "Tee" where the black line is hooked up. It may be more between the coupling and the "Tee". The ARM media is from that point up to about 2" from the Maxi-Jet intake.
I used sulphur beads from www.Aquaticeco.com Its the same stuff that is used in the Schuran reactors I believe.

[IBASSFSH]

One more thing is that I copied DJfrankies modified reactor on page 4 I believe pretty much exactly, but I could not find a 4" base for it. I had to use a 4" to 3" reducer and base. By doing this though I didn't have to Dremel a place in shower drain cap for the 1/2" to fit under it. The drain cover actually rest perfectly in the reducer where it reduces down. The only draw back is its a little taller than DJfrankies due to this I would imagine.

[Paul_PSU]

IBASSFISH,

I like the bottom, looks more stylish.

[Paul_PSU]

How many pounds of the sulphur media did you get? Do you have any pics of it?